I wanted to briefly highlight my experiences and thoughts throughout the three years of my study at the University of Chester. At the start of the first year, I was worried and confused, I had 0 confidence and believed that I was not good enough for my art career to strengthen and progress. I obviously felt some hope because I worked hard to get onto this degree and I am so glad I did. With an unlimited amount of help from lecturers in all different sectors, I gained my confidence and developed my skills and understanding.
The tutors and lecturers at this University have been so supportive and I am beyond grateful, any concern I had withering in my mind was eliminated. I felt safe and secure and free to be me, I have worried for years about what art is supposed to be, what type of art I am supposed to be good at. This degree has developed my skills not only in drawing and painting but in sculpture, textiles printmaking, mixed media and much more. Some I am more skilled in and others I need to work on, but that is the process. You are not going to be good at everything, you are not going to know and understand everything, if you do then what is the point in pursuing something if you know it all? You come to University to learn, to develop and to grow. It is only you that will have the decision but keep in mind that the support you are given and the ideas that spring to life throughout this degree are endless.
There are three reasons why I chose this University to study for my degree, one is the location, I am a creative and imaginative person, I love the city and love the traditional aspects that pop with culture and happiness. It is a unique, fresh and completely different scenery that I am not used to, but when I am a part of it, all ideas and creativity fill me with unlimited possibilities and it is up to me to act on them. Two is the staff, I decided to have a look at the campus I would have endless workshops and lectures at and had an amazing and comforting conversation with the printmaking tutor. He has been there for years and expressed his values, teaching qualities and helpful opinions that made me feel more confident about art and any doubts I had about the creative industry. Three is the interview, I have had terrible interviews at different universities that were rushed and you could tell they were not interested in anything you said. I went to this University for an interview and was there for almost over an hour, each time I stopped to apologise about talking too much, the tutor encouraged me to carry on. He was engrossed in my work and took interest in it that, no one ever has before, no one! It made me feel so elated and confident and I knew I needed to study there.
The second and third year are amazing! you have learnt so many skills by now on different topics that it is now time to explore and experiment! This is where I found my true interest and speciality in large charcoal drawings. It was a constant motion of development, exploration, challenges and lecturers that questioned your opinions in a good way. I have never felt let down or belittled within my creative ideas, I have only ever been challenged about them. There is no point in expressing interest in something because you are good at it, how has it caught your eye? How will this affect your project? where do you think you will go with this? How do you think this will progress? What research must you construct to gain further understanding? These are all questions you are encouraged to think of, my reflection on work was more descriptive and this was something I struggled with until my lecturer supported me and helped me understand that the reflection is to question why you are doing what you are doing and what can be applied to benefit it, what areas did not work as well as other and why? ll things that I now think of through each piece I create.
I thought this degree would be about developing skills and that was me thinking of drawing, it's not, it is about everything. You cover art history and boy did I need that, I felt so scared because everything I was listening to was going through one ear and out of the other. I challenged myself and that is the best thing I ever did, I found that my weakest skills were academic writing, I have never done English Literature and never produced an essay before. I developed this from the first year and when it hit my third year I chose to do a dissertation instead of an easier option. I worked hard and ensured that my academic writing was developed and professional throughout. I may not be the best at it but I find that I don't care, I am more confident and proud of how much I have achieved and overcome that no one could bring me down.
Everything I have mentioned in this blog post could not have happened if it was not for my amazing and extraordinary journey through my Fine Art degree at this University. Of course, one thing I will mention is that I did have doubts in the first year, I was sprung into something random that I was questioning why I am being taught this. But that is how you grow and create, if you want things to be easy to follow and simple then your life will be boring, if you want to be creative and expressive, to explore new and unique ways of development then I would recommend carrying on with your education and do something worthwhile. This degree has helped me on so many levels and I cannot thank the teachers enough for all of their support and knowledge they have given, the challenges they have created the successes they have helped me achieve.